For thoughts on Chateau Ste Michelle’s uniqueness and recent evolution, consult my extensive April, 2013 text designed to introduce recent tasting notes. With polished texture from resolved tannins and plenty of still-juicy dark berry fruit, the Ste Michelle’s 2006 Meritage Artist Series is noteworthy and winsome for its saliva-drawing sense of salinity allied to a savory amalgam of mocha, nuts, cardamom and blond tobacco. The performance here reflects the vintage’s moderate temperatures that permitted of even, shut-down-free ripeness, and finishes with at once soothing and saliva- not to mention next sip-stimulating length. I suspect this is at its best now but will still perform admirably for at least 2-3 more years. Tel. (425) 488-1133

The 2006 Artist Series Meritage was sourced from Cold Creek, Canoe Ridge, and Wahluke Slope. This predominantly Merlot-Cabernet blend was aged for 20 months in mostly French oak. Purple-colored, it has an attractive nose of cedar, cinnamon, allspice, violets, black cherry, and black currant. Dense, ripe, and structured, this solid effort will benefit from 3-5 years of cellaring and offer pleasure from 2013 to 2026. Chateau Ste. Michelle continues to demonstrate that a winery can be large and quality-oriented at the same time. Their current collection is as good as or better than anything it has done in the past.Tel. (425) 415-3300; www.ste-michelle.com

The Artist Series blend is quite Cabernet-centric in 2006—58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 6% Malbec and just a splash of Petit Verdot. Aromatic and loaded with sweet blackberry fruit, backed with black olive and clean earth, this polished effort shows excellent midpalate concentration and a nicely sculpted finish.——P.G.(12/31/2009)—— 91